Authentic Italian Red Sauce

This recipe is from my dear friend Karen, who comes from a big Italian family with fantastic recipes. Another one of their recipes is ‘Mama Filoso’s Chicken Rice Soup’. Anyway, Karen gave this recipe to me a long time ago, but unfortunately it got lost in my big recipe binder and I never made it until last weekend. WOW it was INCREDIBLE–the best marinara sauce I have ever made. This comes together quick and tastes amazing! This is very similar to the 5 Minute Marinara Sauce recipe, but I think better!

According to Karen, this sauce is good on everything from sauteed vegetables like zucchini, or thinly sliced cabbage to any pasta. I am thinking it would be good as a pizza base or to dip your Stromboli or Calzone into. I even thinned the leftover sauce with chicken broth( a little cream would have been good too:) for a quick tomato soup to dip grilled cheese into for lunch. It was great–let me tell you-YUM!

Thank you Karen for another great recipe!

Authentic Italian Red Sauce
submitted by Melanie~The Sisters Cafe

3-4 TBsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

4-8 fresh garlic cloves (Karen says she uses 8 or more- I used 6)

1 (29oz) can of tomatoes (for a milder sauce add more)

1/4 cup tomato paste

1/4 cup fresh basil, or as much as you like (I left this out because I didn’t have any)

1 tsp Better than Bouillon, beef flavor, or 1 bouillon cube

Mild cayenne pepper (optional)

Blend up tomatoes until fairly smooth. Put olive oil in the pan with the minced garlic, just until the garlic starts to really sizzle. Do not over cook the garlic. Add tomatoes to the garlic and oil and bring to a simmer. Add tomato paste, bouillon, fresh basil, and cayenne. Bring to a simmer. Let cook a minute or two. This does not need a long time to cook. It will actually lose it’s pungent flavor if you do.

I tried this and think it is fabulous. I have so many canned tomatoes and this recipe can be used in a zillion different dishes. I made it as a breadstick dip and will be using it as a lasagna sauce and many other things. Thank you!

I made this last night for the pizza sauce on our Jack-o-Lantern pepperoni pizzas, and it turned out really yummy. I was impressed! I’ll be making this asap again for dipping calzones and breadsticks. I thought it was fabulous! Oh, and very very fast, too.

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Growing up in a house full of sisters (one great brother) was a wonderful childhood. When our lovely sister-in-law joined the family, we were thrilled to gain another sister! We feel strongly about creating a home for our families in which meal times are about nourishing the soul, as well as the body.

Where would we be without our lovely and talented Mom? We developed our love of cooking at an early age "helping" our Mom bake cookies, make dinner, and knead bread. She had quite the well of patience! She is the one that taught us about measurements, leavening agents, egg-washes, the basic white sauce, and numerous other mysteries of the kitchen! All of us cherish the memories we have of learning to cook with our Mom at our side. Thank you Mom! You instilled in us a respect for work as well as a joy in creating delicious things. We love you! Your Daughters